The Balancing Act

At the beginning of the month, I decided to take the plunge and drop some cash for a quarterly membership at Guru. After updating my profile and writing proposal after proposal, I still have nothing to show for it after two weeks of steadily sending out proposals.

One of the worst things about starting a new career is having to start all over again. Technically I’ve been writing since September 2008 but aside from getting a few lucky breaks here and there (ie. scoring a stringer gig via the local newspaper as well as the subcontracting I have been doing with Berry Brewer which I am so very grateful for!), it has taken me this long to develop the confidence to try to find clients and contacts of my own.

While I am still working on building my network — including contacting local businesses that may be in need of a writer for press releases and the like — I would still like to see my Guru investment have some fruit. But I am, all too painfully, an obvious Guru newbie. While my profile is nearly complete, I have no reviews, no feedback, no income earned on my profile. I’m not too surprised that employers may be passing me up for more obviously experienced professionals — not many folks are willing to entrust their project to a newbie. But as the quandry goes, someone, somewhere has to give you your first break in order for you to get experience. And while I do have experience, it hasn’t been on Guru. So unless employers look at my profile and discover that yes, I am experienced and can write great things for them at a reasonable rate, I’m stuck.

Oh well, I’ve just gotta keep trying. Eventually, something will come out of this Guru thing. I just have to believe it.

I’ve been working as a freelance writer since leaving the tech industry last fall. All things considered, I have been doing fairly well but I have come to the epiphany that I could be doing a lot more. So as of June 1, 2009, I have decided to keep track of the changes that I’m making and see how they help my business… or not.

One of the biggest changes that I have made is signing up for an account at Guru. I had been using ODesk but aside from a job here or there, I just wasn’t having too much luck. Plus, a lot of the jobs that were available were so ridiculously low paying that it just wasn’t worth it for me to even look at the listings any more. Signing up at Guru cost a pretty penny but I am hoping that I will make up the quarterly subscription cost in the first job or so. I’ll try it out for the summer and hopefully score a few jobs from there.